Rush to divorce as holiday ends

More people will take the first steps towards divorce today than any other day of the year, says a new report.

Around 100 divorce lawyers questioned by website insidedivorce.com agreed this week would be one of the busiest of the year.

Leading divorce lawyer James Stewart, of law firm Manches, which has offices in London and Oxford, said Christmas was often the final nail in the marital coffin - leading to a surge in the number of people instructing solicitors in the new year.

He said: 'Extra time together can force problems that already exist in the relationship to come to a head. We're expecting this to be our busiest day and indeed our busiest week.'

New research commissioned to coincide with the launch of insidedivorce.com, found one in five marriages are on shaky ground. Asked what was the tipping point which sent people scurrying for the divorce courts, over a quarter (27%) said the defining moment was discovering their partner was having an affair.

Falling out of love was the second most popular reason for ending a marriage - cited by 22% of the more than 2,000 people questioned in the research. Other reasons included, financial disagreements, debt, abuse, and careers taking precedence over relationships.

The research also confirmed the 'seven year itch' is a problem, with British couples being married on average for seven years and three months before realising it was not working out.